I currently live near a health food grocery store and have been feeling a little guilty for not taking advantage of all the bulk bin alternative ingredients and making more gluten-free, vegan cookies etc. In the past the people I baked for liked regular non-vegan treats, but since I’m just baking for myself these days I finally bought some almond meal and flax (the other ingredients are always on hand) and made Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
To start I used an old almond flour chocolate chunk cookies recipe which calls for an egg and is not vegan. This recipe uses ground flax instead of an egg, brown sugar instead of maple syrup, and a combo of coconut oil and almond butter for fat. The cookies bake up thick, soft and have a pretty strong almond flavor from the almond butter. Here’s a photo of the dough. I baked a couple of balls right away and frozen the rest for later.
The smaller size (18 per batch) cookies weigh about .85 oz each, so if you want larger cookies just double up the balls and make 9 or 10 cookies. Here’s a photo of the larger size cookies.
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (150 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 cup almond butter, without salt or sugar
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (30 grams)
- 1 flax egg (1 T. flax mixed with 3 T. water)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips, feel free to use more or less
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix together the almond flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
- In a second bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, vanilla, almond butter and coconut oil for 1 minute, scraping the side of the bowl often. Beat in the flax egg.
- Add the almond flour mixture and stir by hand until blended.
- If the dough looks too wet, sprinkle in some more almond flour. The dough should be the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. Stir in chocolate chunks.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop up 18 heaps of dough and arrange on the parchment lined baking sheet spacing about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10-12 minutes.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Runnergirl, the coconut oil should be soft but not melted. Thanks for asking! I’ll add a note.
I want to try these! Is the coconut oil solid or melted?
Thanks!
Karen, sorry for the delayed response. They are completely different mainly because the almond flour gives them a different texture and flavor. The texture is dense and soft and the flavor is somewhat almond with chocolate and vanilla. They look like regular chocolate chunk cookies but darker. The flax egg works perfectly here.
How do they taste compared to non gluten and with egg substitute?
They are very attractive cookies!